re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 8:34 am to TigerCub)

I caught a little bit of last night's episode on PBS and immediately noticed different scenes and lines from the original UK version. I wonder why they felt the need to re-edit it for American audiences?

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 8:41 am to TigerCub)

You can watch the original Upstairs Downstairs, the show Downton Abbey is a ripoff of, on YouTube here. It will be too slow-moving for a lot of posters, but those who will soon be desperate for a little class-conflict English soap opera after the DA season is over might want to check it out.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 10:10 am to BigAppleTiger)

quote:I caught a little bit of last night's episode on PBS and immediately noticed different scenes and lines from the original UK version. I wonder why they felt the need to re-edit it for American audiences?

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 12:23 pm to Kafka)

Upstairs Downstairs is good. DA is a copy but I think it's a little more well done. Better acting IMO. Both good shows, but DA is what's running and that's what people currently care about. I understand why you've been making a serious push for people to watch upstairs downstairs though.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 12:47 pm to iwyLSUiwy)

quote:Upstairs Downstairs is good. DA is a copy but I think it's a little more well done. Better acting IMO. Both good shows, but DA is what's running and that's what people currently care about. I understand why you've been making a serious push for people to watch upstairs downstairs though.

It's not a "push", just a FYI to people who may be looking for something similar. I'd never even seen Upstairs Downstairs until a few months ago. I've never really been a Masterpiece Theatre watcher. I have some links saved to various similar shows on YT (which I've meant to watch, but have never gotten around to) which I'll post if anyone's interested.

FWIW the production values are indeed MUCH better on DA, but I think the acting is, on the whole, superior on the old UD -- they even have a few greats like Gordon Jackson (the dourly efficient butler -- he was in The Great Escape), Angela Baddeley (the old cook), and the IRL married couple of Pauline Collins (the randy maid -- some may know her from the film Shirley Valentine) and her husband John Alderton (the scheming chauffeur). Alderton is a special favorite of mine, superb at both drama and light comedy. Unfortunately he never worked in Hollywood, so he's not very well known in the US.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 1:06 pm to iluvdatiger)

Lesley Anne Down (front left) was a babe and a half, and there are pics of her much less conservatively dressed (nudge nudge). Same with Nicola Pagett from the first two seasons (Google them both if you don't believe me).

Last night I tuned in on the scene where Daisy and Albert were dancing the foxtrot and they had Daisy saying an extra line not in UK version saying "This reminds me of a long time ago when Thomas was teaching me to dance the Grizzly Bear", which was referencing series 1. In the few minutes I watched I noticed there were shots included that didn't appear in UK version.

re: Official Downton Abbey Season 3 Discussion (Posted on 2/5/13 at 2:15 pm to BigAppleTiger)

quote:Last night I tuned in on the scene where Daisy and Albert were dancing the foxtrot and they had Daisy saying an extra line not in UK version saying "This reminds me of a long time ago when Thomas was teaching me to dance the Grizzly Bear", which was referencing series 1. In the few minutes I watched I noticed there were shots included that didn't appear in UK version.